1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a click apparatus that is used for a rotating operation section of an in-vehicle control apparatus such as a car air-conditioner and that generates a click feeling by a rotating operation.
2. Background Art
A rotating operation section of an in-vehicle control apparatus such as a car air-conditioner mainly uses a click-type rotating operation-type electronic component so that operability is obtained and a set position after the operation is prevented from being dislocated. Thus, the click-type rotating operation-type electronic component as described above has been required to have a high click degree in order to prevent the dislocation due to vibration or the like and to prevent a wrong operation.
A conventional click apparatus used for the click-type rotating operation-type electronic component as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 20 and FIG. 21.
FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional click apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H9-63812. FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional click apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H8-222413.
In the conventional click apparatus shown in FIG. 20, case 1 having an opening at the lower face has circular-cylindrical bearing section 1A that is protruded from the center in the upward direction. Bearing section 1A includes penetration hole 1B. Rotation body 2 has axis section 2A that is rotatably inserted to penetration hole 1B of bearing section 1A. Flange section 2B at the lower part of rotation body 2 is provided within the opening of the case. The upper face of flange section 2B has inner concavo-convex section 2C and outer concavo-convex section 2D that are formed on the circumference of a concentric circle. Cover plate 3 has center hole 3A. Support section 2E protruding from flange section 2B of rotation body 2 in the lower direction is rotatably fitted in center hole 3A to seal the opening at the lower face of case 1. Cover 4 is composed of a metal plate and is provided so as to upwardly protrude bearing section 1A of case 1 from middle hole 4A and to hold the side walls of case 1. The lower ends of cover 4 are caulked to be bent so as to press cover plate 3 from the lower side.
Ring-like click spring 5 is fixed at the top face of the opening of case 1. Circular arc-like parts at both ends of click spring 5 opposed to each other are bent to the lower side. Among the bent parts, the one having a longer length to the tip end is first spring section 5A and the one having a shorter length to the tip end is second spring section 5B. The tip end of first spring section 5A elastically contacts outer concavo-convex section 2D provided at flange section 2B of rotation body 2. The tip end of second spring section 5B elastically contacts inner concavo-convex section 2C.
When axis section 2A of rotation body 2 is rotated and operated in the configuration as described above, rotation body 2 is rotated while axis section 2A being supported by bearing section 1A of case 1 and support section 2E being supported by center hole 3A of cover plate 3. By this rotation of rotation body 2, first spring section 5A of click spring 5 elastically contacting the upper face of flange section 2B is slid over outer concavo-convex section 2D and second spring section 5B is slid over inner concavo-convex section 2C, thereby generating a click degree.
This click apparatus includes two spring sections of first spring section 5A and second spring section 5B. Thus, a strong click degree can be obtained by allowing outer concavo-convex section 2D of flange section 2B and the concave section and the convex section of inner concavo-convex section 2C to have an equal distance from the rotation center. On the contrary, a weak click degree and a double click number can be obtained by arranging outer concavo-convex section 2D and the concave section and the convex section of inner concavo-convex section 2C with angles from the rotation center dislocated by ½.
Next, a conventional click apparatus shown in FIG. 21 will be described. This click apparatus has a different configuration from that of the click apparatus shown in FIG. 20 in that click springs are provided at different positions from those in the case of the click apparatus shown in FIG. 20.
First, as in the click apparatus shown in FIG. 20, flange section 12B of rotation body 12 is positioned in the lower face opening section of case 11 and axis section 12A is rotatably inserted to bearing section 11A of case 11. Support section 12D at the lower part of rotation body 12 is supported by center hole 13A of cover plate 13. Cover 14 is caulked to be bent so as to hold case 11 to provide the entire combination.
However, in the case of the click apparatus shown in FIG. 21, ring-like click spring 15 is fixed to cover plate 13 and both circular arc-like ends of click spring 15 are upwardly bent, respectively. First spring section 15A and second spring section 15B of click spring 15 are formed to elastically contact concavo-convex section 12C provided in the lower face of flange section 12B of rotation body 12.
The operation of the click apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 21 is the same as that of the click apparatus of FIG. 20 and thus will not be described further.
As shown in FIG. 21, the click apparatus having this configuration is structured so that first spring section 15A and second spring section 15B are bent to have an equal length and are slid over the same concavo-convex sections 12C provided in the lower face of flange section 12B while elastically contacting the concavo-convex sections 12C.
Thus, an increased click number is obtained when the concave sections and the convex sections of concavo-convex section 12C in the lower face of flange section 12B are positioned so as to be opposed to one another with regards to the rotation center as shown in FIG. 21. A click apparatus having a strong click degree is also obtained when the concave sections and the convex sections have the same positional relation with regards to the rotation center.
In the case of the conventional click apparatus shown in FIG. 20, when rotation body 2 receives an elastic contact force from click spring 5 and rotates, friction is caused between the upper face surrounding center hole 3A of cover plate 3 and support section 2E. In the case of the conventional click apparatus shown in FIG. 21 on the other hand, when rotation body 12 receives an elastic contact force from click spring 15 and rotates, friction is caused between the lower face of bearing section 11A of case 11 and support section 12D.
However, when these conventional click apparatuses have increased elastic contact forces from click springs 5 and 15 in order to provide an increased click degree in accordance with a demand from a device in which the click apparatuses are used, pressures given from rotation bodies 2 and 12 to support sections 2E and 12D are also increased. This has caused a disadvantage that the above friction proportionally-increased due to the increased pressures has suppressed a clear click feeling.